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Women's Soccer Signs Two More Standouts

Jodie Taylor and Alyssa Blackwell have signed national letters of intent to play women's soccer for Oregon State University, Beaver head coach Steve Fennah announced Wednesday.

Taylor, a striker, is a U-19 English National Team veteran from Wallasey, Merseyside (Oldershaw HS), in England. Blackwell, from Lake Oswego, Ore., (Jesuit HS) is a midfielder/striker.

Taylor and Blackwell join Monica Storm (defense) and Whitney Goodell (midfield/striker) as members of OSU's 2004 signing class. All four will be freshmen in 2004.

'Jodie and Alyssa add tremendous talent to our team,' Fennah said. 'We've very excited about our recruiting class this year. We've added three players with national pool or national team experience, which is a huge positive for our squad.'

Taylor is a two-year member of the U-19 English National Team, which recently competed in the UEFA qualifying tournament. She played one year on the U-17 squad.

Taylor was the leading scorer each of the last two years for the Tranmere club team of the Women's National League. She also helped lead the Merseyside squad to the national championship in 2002.

Oldershaw is a perennial Merseyside champion. Merseyside is a county in England, which is the equivalent of a state in the U.S.

'We're very excited about Jodie Taylor's addition to the team,' Fennah said. 'She is a young lady who has the ability to score goals, and obviously that's very important. Her pace and tactical awareness should be a big plus for our squad.

'We're expecting Jodie to be able to contribute right away,' Fennah added. 'She's scored goals and has had success at the international level, which should allow her to feel comfortable very quickly at the collegiate level. She's definitely a player we feel has a nose for the goal.'

Blackwell led the Jesuit Crusader squad to two high school state championships, and recently scored the winning goal in the state title game for her FC Portland club squad.

Blackwell also tallied the winning goal in the 2002 high school state championship match for Jesuit.

'Alyssa is a very quick, athletic player,' Fennah said. 'We see her playing out wide in the midfield or as a striker. She's always had the ability to score goals. That, combined with her pace, will be another big plus for our squad.'

The Beavers open the 2004 season on Aug. 27 in Corvallis against San Diego State.